Alpe d'Huez is a famous ski resort 1850 metres / 3330 metres (6,069 ft / 10,924 ft) high. Alpe d'Huez was and still is a mountain pasture in the Central French Alps, located on the territory of the commune of Huez, in the Isère département.

Tour de France

Alpe d'Huez is the most famous mountain climb in the Tour de France. While the tour route varies from year to year, l'Alpe d'Huez has hosted a stage finish almost every year since 1976. The Tour de France first finished a stage on l'Alpe d'Huez in 1952. That stage was won by the Italian road racing cyclist Fausto Coppi.

The climb up Alpe d'Huez is 13.8 km at an average gradient of 8.1% with 21 hairpin (les 21 virages) bends marked with panels honouring the winners of each stage that has finished there. Having finished there for the 22nd time in 2001, the authorities had to start again at the bottom with a double panel honouring Fausto Coppi and Lance Armstrong.

As the most legendary climb in recent Tour history, the Alpe has been the scene of chaotic crowds in the past 10 years. In 1999 Giuseppe Guerini won the stage despite being knocked off his bike by an over-enthusiastic spectator who stepped into his path to take a photograph (the photographer later sought out Guerini to apologize). The 2004 Tour de France route featured an individual time trial up Alpe d'Huez, which became a chaotic scene crowded with nearly a million fans, some of whom could not resist pushing their favorite rider toward the top. Armstrong won the stage and his time was only 1 second slower than the official record set by the late Marco Pantani of 37 minutes, 35 seconds.

Alpe d'Huez is also known as the "Dutch Mountain", a Dutchman having won there 8 of the first 14 finishes. Approximately one of every three fans on the mountain is from the Netherlands. The Dutch have won none of the last 11 stages finishing on Alpe d'Huez however; 6 were won by Italian riders, 3 by American riders, one by Basque rider Iban Mayo, and the most recent by Fränk Schleck of Luxembourg.

The peak also serves as the finish of La Marmotte, a one-day, 175-km road cycle ride with well over 5000 m. of climbing. It is also used for downhill, or Alpine skiing.

Winners of the Alpe d'Huez stage at Tour de France

Year	Name	Country	Bend
2006	Fränk Schleck	Luxembourg	18
2004	Lance Armstrong	United States	19
2003	Iban Mayo	Spain	20
2001	Lance Armstrong	United States	21
1999	Giuseppe Guerini	Italy	1
1997	Marco Pantani	Italy	2
1995	Marco Pantani	Italy	3
1994	Roberto Conti	Italy	4
1992	Andrew Hampsten	United States	5
1991	Gianni Bugno	Italy	6
1990	Gianni Bugno	Italy	7
1989	Gert-Jan Theunisse	Netherlands	8
1988	Steven Rooks	Netherlands	9
1987	Federico Echave	Spain	10
1986	Bernard Hinault	France	11
1984	Luis Herrera	Colombia	12
1983	Peter Winnen	Netherlands	13
1982	Beat Breu	Switzerland	14
1981	Peter Winnen	Netherlands	15
1979*	Joop Zoetemelk	Netherlands	16
1979*	Joaquim Agostinho	Portugal	17
1978	Hennie Kuiper	Netherlands	18
1977	Hennie Kuiper	Netherlands	19
1976	Joop Zoetemelk	Netherlands	20
1952	Fausto Coppi	Italy	21

*In the 1979 Tour de France, there were two stages at l'Alpe d'Huez.

Fastest Alpe d'Huez ascents

The climb has been timed since 1994 so earlier times are subject to some discussion. From 1994 to 1997 the climb was timed from a point 14.5km from the finish. Since 1999 a photo-finish system was used from 14km to the finish. Other times have been taken from 13.8km from the summit, which is the corner which marks the start of the climb. Other timings have also been taken from the road junction approximately 700m from the start of the climb. [1]

These variations in the distance for timing the climb have led to an ongoing debate as to the fastest times. For example, the 'official' record of Marco Pantani of 37'35" has been cited by sources such as UK-based ProCycling magazine, and World Cycling Productions - publishers of the Tour de France series of DVDs hosted by Phil Liggett and the magazine Cycle Sport . In his biography of Marco Pantani, Matt Rendell notes the following for Pantani's times: 1994 - 38'00"; 1995 - 38'04"; 1997 - 37'35". The Alpe d'Huez tourist association describes the climb as 14.454km and also lists Pantani's 37'35" as the record. [2]

Other sources, however, list Pantani's times from 1994, 95 & 97 as the fastest, based on alternate - and argued by many to be more accurate - timings adjusted for the 13.8 km distance. [3] Such sources list Pantani's time in 1995 as the record for the 13.8 km distance at 36'40" (in his Blazing Saddles book, Rendell has changed his view and lists it has 36'50", as does CyclingNews [4]). Second, third, and fourth fastest are Pantani in 1997 (36'45"), Pantani in 1994 (37'15") and Jan Ullrich in 1997 (37'30"). Lance Armstrong's time from 2004 (37'36") makes him only the fifth fastest, highlighting how the 1990s saw notably faster ascents than other eras.

A number of cycling publications have cited historical times for prior to 1994, although the distances for the time are typically not included, making comparisons difficult. For example, Fausto Coppi has been listed with a time of 45'22" for the first ascent of the climb in a Tour de France in 1952.[5]

Alpe d'Huez was climbed extensively in the Tour from the 1980s, where Gert-Jan Theunisse, Pedro Delgado, Luis Herrera, and Laurent Fignon rode the climb in times stated to be faster than Coppi's, but still not breaking the 40' barrier. Greg Lemond and Bernard Hinault have been reported as having the times of 48'00" in 1986. [6]

It was not until the 1990s, starting with Gianni Bugno and Miguel Indurain in 1991, that times faster than 40'00" were reportedly achieved, including times in the 39' range for Bjarne Riis in 1995 and Richard Virenque in 1997. For the 2006 Tour, Floyd Landis was listed at 38'34" and Andreas Kloden at 38'35" in the July 19th, 2006 edition of l'Equipe.

Pro Cycling listed the time of the stage winner in 2006, Fränk Schleck, as 40'46", the first time that the stage winner took more than 40 minutes since 1994. The increase in climbing speed in the 1990s had been widely attributed to the use of doping products, primarily Erythropoietin or EPO. A number of riders with sub-40' times, such as Alex Zülle, Riis, and Virenque, have confessed to using such products during this time. Strong evidence also exists that Pantani's records were also achieved with the assistance of EPO. [7]

Skiing at Alpe d'Huez

Alpe d'Huez has established itself as one of Europe's premier freeskiing venues. The site of the Pomagalski's first surface lift in the early sixties, the resort grew in an organic manner, gaining popularity when it hosted the bobsleigh events of the 1968 Winter Olympics. At that time the resort was seen as a competitor to Courchevel as France's most upmarket purpose built resort but the development of Les Trois Vallées, Val d'Isère, Tignes, La Plagne and Les Arcs saw Alpe D'Huez fall from favour in the Seventies and early Eighties.

With 236km of piste and 84 ski lifts, the resort is now one of the world's largest. Extensive snowmaking facilities helped combat the ski area's largely south-facing orientation and helped Alpe d'Huez appeal to beginner skiers, with very easy slopes. The expansion of the skiing above the linked resorts of Vaujany, Oz-en-Oisans, Villard Reculas and Auris boosted the quantity and quality of intermediate grade slopes but the resort is mostly known for freeskiing, drawing many steep skiing enthusiasts to its high altitude terrain.

Aside from the Tunnel and Sarenne black runs, the latter the world's longest at 16km, many Off-piste opportunities exist both from the summit of the 3330m Pic Blanc and the 2808m Dome des Petites Rousses. These include the 50-degree Cheminees du Mascle couloirs, the vast open powder field of Le Grand Sablat, the aesthetic Couloir Fleur and the pick-your-own-line freedom of the Perrins bowl. With up to 2200m of vertical descent available and heli drops back to the resort's altiport possible, some extremely challenging routes are within scope of the skilled practitioner. The proximity to the exclusively off-piste resort of La Grave as well as the great tree skiing of Serre Chevalier and the huge glacier and excellent terrain parks of Les Deux Alpes have made Alpe d'Huez a popular base for skiers looking to explore the Oisans region.

Downsides to the resort are few. Those looking for a traditional chocolate-box chalet holiday may be disappointed by Alpe d'Huez's bitty architecture and English is often the native tongue. Large queues and crowded pistes can mar the ski experience during peak French holiday weeks and the proximity to Grenoble means the resort can be inundated with weekend skiers if the forecast is favourable. The famous 21 hairpin bends of the access road can also be tricky during bad weather when chains become mandatory.

Sister cities

Alpe d'Huez's sister cities are:

• Bormio, Italy, since 2005.

External links

• Ski Resort Website (in French & English)
• Independent Alpe d'Huez Skiing Guide (in English)
• VeloNews map of the climb with numbered corners
• Interactive road map with photos of each hairpin-bend and road sign

45°03′N 6°02′E / 45.050°N 6.033°E / 45.050; 6.033